Spokane, WA

15 - 24 January, 2010

Event Reports

Novice

Junior

Senior

Daily Notes

For individual event reports follow the links at the
left.

All photos copyright 2010 by George
S. Rossano

Sunday, 24 January 2020

Events are done, teams are selected and thoughts turn to Four
Continents and the Olympic Games. Four Continents starts in a
few days and the team will be leaving for Korea directly from here
without retuning home first.

Exhibition goes off at 12:30 PM.

Saturday, 23 January 2010

2010
Olympic Winter Games Ladies Nominations to the USOC

Rachael
Flatt

Mirai
Nagasu

Alternate
No. 1  Ashley Wagner

Alternate
No. 2  Sasha Cohen

Alternate
No. 3  Christina Gao

2010
Olympic Winter Games Ice Dancing Nominations to the USOC

Tanith
Belbin and Ben Agosto

Meryl
Davis and Charlie White

Emily
Samuelson and Evan Bates

Alternate
No. 1  Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre

Alternate
No. 2  Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein

Alternate
No. 3  Madison Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell

2010
U.S.
World Ladies Figure Skating Team

Rachael
Flatt

Mirai
Nagasu

Alternate
No. 1  Ashley Wagner

Alternate
No. 2  Sasha Cohen

Alternate
No. 3  Bebe Liang

2010
U.S.
World Ice Dancing Team

Tanith
Belbin and Ben Agosto

Meryl
Davis and Charlie White

Emily
Samuelson and Evan Bates

Alternate
No. 1  Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre

Alternate
No. 2  Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein

Alternate
No. 3  Madison Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell

2010
U.S.
Four Continents Ladies Figure Skating Team

Amanda
Dobbs

Alexe
Gilles

Caroline
Zhang

Alternate
No. 1  Melissa Bulanhagui

Alternate
No. 2  Becky Bereswill

2010
U.S.
Four Continents Ice Dancing Team

Madison
Chock and Greg Zuerlein

Madison
Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell

Jane
Summersett and Todd Gilles

Alternate
No. 1  Lynn Kriengkrairut and
Logan
Giulietti-Schmitt

Alternate
No. 2  Trina Pratt and Chris Obzansky

Alternate
No. 3  Shannon Wingle and Tim McKernan

Competitive events draw to a close today with the Dance Free Dance beginning
shortly before noon. Then, later this afternoon afternoon the
Ladies final will decide the last members of the U.S. Olympic
Team. In the Dance event the greatest pressure is on Samuelson
& Bates and Navarro & Bommentre. Backstage this morning
Navarro's look is best described as distraught. Should the
couple not make the Olympic Team, her disappointment will surely prove
intense beyond imagining.

Many rumors have swirled around Sasha Cohen. Yesterday we
heard the best one yet. According to this one, there was no way
Sasha was NOT going to compete here this week as she supposedly has
received $200,000 in appearance money. Further, the buzz has it
that NBC is putting substantial pressure on U.S. Figure Skating to
name Cohen to the Olympic team no matter what. The USOC,
however, has a representative present at the selection meetings, so
there better be a credible case to depart from order of finish should
Cohen not place in the top two. That being said, our prediction remains
Nagasu, Cohen, Wagner, Flatt. That's our prediction and were
sticking with it.

Hubbell & Hubbell lead after the second warmup. They had
a string skate and have a chance to move back up and finish in fifth
place. Last warmup is now on the ice.

Super performance from B&A. PCs around 9.25-9.50.
Room left for D&W to go up another 0.25.

A powerful performance from N&B. PCs around
7.50-7.75. Is it good enough? We will find out after
S&B who skate last.

A pleasant skate from C&Z. PCs around 7.00.
They will finish fifth. H&H will end up sixth.

Beautiful and energetic skate from D&W. Choreographically
just another Phantom, but very well done. PCs around
9.50-9.75. They repeat as National Champions.

Precisely and cleanly skated by S&B. PCs around
7.50-7.75. They end up third and will be going to Vancouver.

Following the dance awards we are on to the Ladies. First
warmup is on the ice. Kayla Howey withdraws after the warmup
period. No reason given.

After the second warmup, Melissa Bulanhagui leads with 129.21
points.

Some decent jumps and spins and a few triples from Caroline Zhang
-- but not much of a program. PCs around 6.00 and 138.27
points. Currently in first place.

Nice skate from BeBe Liang. Energetic and enthusiastic.
PCs around 6.25 and 147.71 points. Currently in first place.

Alissa Czisny, jumps a disaster, the rest nicely done but too
little points to help much. Painful to see her do down in
flames. PCs around 6.75 and 140.37 points. Currently
in second place. She will end up around tenth when we are
done.

Emily Hughes, two falls, decent speed and power. Some drama
in the presentation, but not enough here to help her move up
much. PCs around 6.00 and 140.60 points. Currently in
second place.

AlexeGilles, two falls, fair speed and power. Some pleasant
skating to "On the Town". PCs around 6.25 and 143.31
points. Currently in second place.

At the end of the third warmup BeBe Liang currently in first
place. Fourth warmup is now on the ice.

Amanda Dobbs, two falls and a step out of double Axel. Still
a strong skate. She has made a strong positive impression in
pairs and now here too. A big future awaits. PCs
around 6.50 and 150.72 points. She is currently in first
place. Will end up at least sixth in the end.

Christine Gao, one fall and a double Axel gone bad, but otherwise a
strong skate. Good speed and promising expression. She
will be part of the next generation. PCs around 6.25
and 156.53 points. She is currently in first place.

Ashley Wagner, a strong lovely skate. Did not throw the
triple-triple. Good speed and presentations. She's a
fighter. PCs around 7.50 and 184.70 points. She is
currently in first place.

Sasha Cohen, one fall and several other jump errors. A brave
performance but short of the mark in Transitions and
presentation. Some pretty skating in places but did not attack
to extent needed. PCs around 7.25 and 174.28 points. She
is currently in second place. Will need divine intervention from
the International Committee to make the Olympic Team.

Rachell Flatt, a solid performance with a few lesser jump
issues. Some nice moments in the sequences. A tad slow,
but she got the job done. PCs around 7.50 and 200.11
points. She is currently in first place. It's all on Mirai
now.

Mirai Nagasu, a splendid solid performance. Superb. If
that doesn't win, a pox on the judges.

PCs around 7.75 and 188.78 points. She places second. A
pox on the judges.

Three downgrades. Never mind, that explains it. The pox
is lifted. The three downgrades cost Miai more points than
Flatt's margin of victory.

Friday, 22 January 2010

The Junior Ladies go at it again in the Free Skate this
morning. Agnes Zawadzki has a large but not insurmountable lead
of 7.63 points and ladies down to seventh plae have at least a
numerical chance of moving up into the medals. This evening the
second segment f the Senior Dance event takes place, with the skating
of the Original Dance.

Sasha Cohen has been a boon to interest in skating leading up to
these National Championships and the Olympics. It is a great
accomplishment that she has been able to return to competitive form in
the relatively short time she allowed for it. If she makes the
Olympic team even more so. The idea, however, that in making the team
she will increase the chance of the U.S. medalling in the Ladies event
seems a little far fetched at this point.

The last time a U.S. lady was not on the podium at the Olympics was
in 1964. With Cohen out of the picture the conventional
prediction is that the best the U.S. will do in the Ladies event
Vancouver is about fifth. With the Cohen in the picture the
situation seems to be pretty much the same. Unless Cohen goes
out of Nationals with a runaway victory as champion with components in
the eights, her chances at the Olympics are no better than for Nagasu
or Flatt or any other U.S. lady who might end up named to the team.

The thought that Cohen's name recognition as 2006 silver medallist will help her in Vancouver even if her scores here are no higher
than the
other U.S. ladies have received in recent international competition is
similarly farfetched. The Koreans, Japanese and Canadians have
been politicking for their skaters for two years. It's a bit too
late for the U.S. to be playing that game at this late date, with no
international appearance from Cohen in four years.

If Cohen makes the Olympic team for the third time she has a good
chance to place in the top five, and that would be a great accomplishment;
but to medal in Vancouver that would truly require a miracle on ice.

In the Junior Ladies, Agnes Zwadzki handily won the Free Skate and
captured the national title with 171.87 points, more than 20 pointe
better than her nearest rival. Yasmin Siraj moved up to second
in the Free Skate to win the silver medal with 151.05 points.
The bronze was taken by Lindsay Davis with 133.97 points. She
placed fourth in the long and fifth in the short. Kiri Baga had
placed second in the short, but dropped to ninth in the long to earn
127.35 points. Third in the long was taken by Nina Jing, but an eleventh
place finish in the short held her back. She was fifth overall
with 126.38 points. Estimated attendance for the Junior Ladies
final: 2800.

Senior Ladies practices are now starting up. Sasha Cohen's
group is on the ice. Cohen did not do a complete run
through. Most jumps were landed today, but also a few
falls. From what was shown the potential for a nice Free Skate
is there. She stopped a few minutes early and signed autographs before leaving.

Alissa Czisny had a decent practice, landing all her jumps -- not perfectly,
but landed. Still, she is in a hole too deep to skate out
of. Perhaps she can move up to be an alternate to the Olympic or
World teams, but that is about it.

Flatt's and Nagasu's practice group now on the ice. Flatt did
not do a complete run through. The jump passes in the first
third were off -- a step out and then a 2F instead of 3F+3T.
Rest of the run through, such as was attempted, was decently
executed. The 3F+3T, is not going to be enough to guarantee
moving into the top two.

Nagasu did a complete run through. All jumps strong except
for one fall. Picked herself up and did not let it affect the
rest of the program. She remains the skater who projects the
most confidence and security in what she is doing. I sense a
championship performance tomorrow (even without the most difficult
jumps passes) and an explosive response from the audience.

Last Ladies practice group on the ice. Ashley Wagner did a
complete run through. Jumps were temperamental today .
Several with minor errors. Spins were well done but not
spectacular. Like Flatt she will have to fight to move up in the
final. Our picks after today's practice: Nagasu kicks butt, then
Cohen. Flatt and Wagner fight over third place. Estimated
attendance: 7000.

Davis & White opened up a slightly greater lead in the Dance
event with a 1.22 point victory in the Original Dance over Belbin
& Agosto. In the race for the third Olympic Team berth
Samuelson & Bates overtook Novarro & Bommentre by scoring 2.00
points ahead of Navarro & Bommentre in the Original Dance. They
now hold third place by a margin of 1.76 points. Madison Chock
& Greg Zurlein also moved up one place after the Original Dance
overtaking the Hubbell's by 0.50 points.

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Yesterday Sasha Cohen put to rest the wild speculations that she
would not show up for Nationals, and if she did she would not be
prepared. Today Belbin & Agosto will little doubt do the
same in the Senior Compulsory dance. The Senior Compulsory Dance
starts at 10:30 AM and in practices they have sown they are here to
compete and ready to rumble. Also in the rumor category, is the
speculation that the judges will get sentimental and put Navarro &
Bommentre in third place to make the Olympic team as a parting reward
for the positive image they have projected for the sport and the
support they have given back to the association over the years.
It also helps that they have fairly good programs this year. So,
as Belbin & Agosto and Davis & White battle for the nation
title, the secondary story will be the decision for third place, most
likely between Samuelson & Bates and Bommentre & Navarro.

And the answer is ...

Davis & White edge out Belbin & Agosto by 0.42 points for a
virtual tie for first and second place. Navarro & Bommentre
squeak ahead of Samuelson & Bates by 0.24 points for a virtual
tine for third and fourth place.

In the Junior Dance event, Maia and Alex Shibutani ran away with
the competition, winning all three dance segments and besting the
competition by 20.08 points. Their components were in the mid
sevens with the couple showing both the skill and maturity needed for
a Senior team. Rachel Tibbetts & Collin Brubaker placed tird
in the Free Dance as they did in the Original, but held second overall
on the strength of their compulsory dance. Piper Gilles &
Zachary Donhue placed second in the Free Dance and ended in third
overall. They trailed Tibbetts & Brubaker by just 0.40
points, their fourth place finish in the compulsory ultimately costing
them one place in the final results.

Rachael Flatt leads in the Ladies Short Program with 69.35 points
after the first warmup. Czisny is 15 points back. Her
Olympic dream may be over.

Super skate from Nagasu. Clean jumps, great spins and
steps. Great presentation. With 70.06 points she leads at
the end of the second warmup group. Charoline Zhang had a
mediocre skate, which made it better than several earlier this
season. With 49.94 points she is currently in 6th place and out
of the running for this year.

Third warmup group is now on the ice. Sahsa is back!
69.63 points puts her in second place, with only Ashley Wagner left
with a reasonable chance to challenge the top two. Ashley skates
last, in about an hour.

A better than expected skate from Emily Hughes. Landed
everything, but components in the sixes. 53.75 points put her in
seventh place with five left to skate, 16 points back. Her
Olympic dream is now over too.

The event ends with Ashley Wagner, who had a generally good skate,
but fell on triple Lutz. A costly error in a hard fought competition
such as this. Her total score of 62.55 puts her in fourth place,
7.5 points back. The ladies go into the free skate with Nagasu,
Cohen and Flatt neck-in-neck. Wagner retains an outside chance.
The pressure will be on these four even worse than it was for the men
in their final last weekend.

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Novice Dance starts the day, followed by the Junior Ladies Short
Program. In the evening Junior Dance continued with the Original
Dance. Senior Dance practice went well this morning with Belbin
& Agosto, Davis & White, and Navarro & Bommentre all
looking in top form. All eyes will be on the first ladies
practice at noon to to get a first look at Sasha Cohen.

Aldridge & Eaton won the free dance to win the Novice dance
title. Ten and eleven year old Danvi and Vu Pham placed second.
in the event, followed by Yang & Baker and Rexford &
Parsons. Estimated attendance 2000 plus several classes of grade
schoolers here on field trips.

Ladies practice up next. John Nicks poked his head in during
the last dance couple, so Sasha is backstage and we are all keyed up
to see her practice.

Sasha short program run
through as we scored it.

3Lz+2T 0 (!?)

3F -3 (Fall -- it was big though)

marked time, flying spin here but omitted?

2A +1

SpSq (4?) +1

LSp4 0

SlSt (3?) 0 (slow)

CCoSp4 +1

Components hard to judge in this run through since a piece
was left out and all transitions may not have been
attempted. Components at least in the sevens.
Transitions seemed a little thin but had difficulty and
intricacy.

Working the triple loop. These are solid. Also
working the triple flip. These are inconsistent, but +1
or 2 when landed. The missing part of the short run
through was 2F directly into deathdrop-canon-side (level 3,
needs to add an edge change or 8 in position to get to level
4).

Not a heavy practice but she looks decent. Certainly
could be competitive for the podium.

Czisny practice group now on the ice. Her short
program run through as we scored it.

3Lz+2T +1

3F -3 Fall

SpSq (4?) +1

1A -3

FSSp3 +1

LSp (4?) +1

SlSt (3?) +1

CCoSp3 +1

Decent speed and control except for opening up on the axel.
Components in the sevens or greater. Two major errors in
competition, however, will be fatal. I would have her
ahead of Cohen on components.

Third group about to start with Flatt and Nagasu.
Wagner and Hughes are in the fourth group later this evening,
after the Junior Ladies Free Skate

Flatt short program run through as we scored it.

.3F+3T 0

3Lz 0

FCSp4 0

SpSq (4?) +1

LSp2 0

2A 0

SlSt (3?) +2

CCoSP4 +2

Slow and artistically thin first half. Faster and
more projection second half. Components in the upper
sizes to low sevens.

Nagasu free skate run through as we scored it.

3Lz+2T+2T +1

2A+3T +1

3F ! -3 Fall

FSSp3 0

LSp4 +1

SpSq4 +2

3Lz +1

3Lo+2A+Seq 0

2A +2

3T -3 Fall

SlSt(3?) 0

CCoSp4 +1

Flying today. Strong skate. Components in the
sevens. Definitely in the running for the top two.

Last practice group follows the Junior ladies.

Agnes Zawadski took the lead in the Junior Ladies Short Program
with a well rounded performance. Kiri Baga placed second on teh
strength of good spins and sequences and nicely expressed
program. Algela Wang, who skated first placed third, followed by
Yasmin Siraj in a unique mid-eastern themed program. Estimated
attendance: 4200. The last practice group of Senior Ladies
follows; then warmups for the Junior Dance Original Dance, and the OD
competition.

Zhang free skate run through.

Did not attempt the whole program.
Triple toe loop through triple loop seem to be here.
Typical issues with triple flip and Lutz. Left out much
of the in-between so no clear picture on components, though
she seems to be skating better than at Skate Canada.
Looking like only a very, very long shot to make the podium.

Wagner short program run through as we
scored it.

3F+2T ! 0

3Lz ! 0

CCoSp4 0

SlSt (3?) 0

FSSp3 0

SpSq4 +1

2A 0

LSp3 +1

Being generous here on the flip and Lutz
takeoffs. Would want to replay these. Secure
skating with decent speed. Not exceptionally fast, but
not dragging either. Components in the high sixes to low
sevens.

Hughes free skate run through.

Also did not attempt the whole
program. What jumps she did attempt were a
struggle. Fell twice and doubled a Salchow. Spin
features were rushed, and would lose credit if she does that
in competition. Components, to the extent one could
tell, not competitive for the podium. Chances for the
podium near zero if this is representative of how she is
regularly skating.

Based on today our top five (alphabetical
order) are: Cohen, Czisny, Flatt, Nagasu, Wagner.
Each of these ladies has the tools to make the top two in the
event.

The day ended with the Junior Dance Original Dance. Fourteen
couples skated to a variety of folk themes. Maia and Alex
Shibutani kicked folk butt with a Japanese themed program that helped
them open up a 8.89 point lead in the Junior Dance event. Thir
OD winning routine received Senior level component marks and the
couple seems unstoppable in the Free Dance. Rachel Tibbetts
& Collin Brunaker held second place overall after a third place
finish in the OD. A strong performance by Piper Gilles &
Zachary Donohue earned them a second place finish in the OD and they
moved into third place overall. Isabella Cannuscio & Ian
Lorello placed fourth in the OD and dropped to fourth overall after a
third place finish in the Compulsory Dance yesterday. Estimated
attendance: 4200.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

The Novice Dance compulsories started off the day. Aldridge
& Eaton lead after the first dance (Starlight Waltz), but faltered
in the second dance (Kilian) where they placed sixth and ended the
morning in third place. Brother and sister couple Danvi Pham
& Vu Pham placed second in the Starlight Waltz and then won
the Kilian to end up in the lead overall. Joylyn Yang &
Jen-Luc Baker placed third in the Starlight Waltz and Second in the
Kilian to finish the day second overall. Only 1.85 points separate
the top three couple. The fourth place couple, Kristina Rexford
& Michael Parsons, lie another 1.41 points back.

For the Junior and Novice events attendance thus far has not been
as robust as in 2007, but is still far better than other recent Nationals.
This morning, however, is an exception. Perhaps 700 on hand for
the Novice Compulsory dances. It's hard to draw an audience on a
weekday morning at 8 AM for anything, no less compulsory dance.

In addition to the Novice compulsories this morning, the Novice
Ladies final follows at 11 AM, and then the Junior Compulsory dance
takes place this evening. The Pairs and Men are all done in all
divisions, and the rest of the week is all Dance and Ladies. In
putting the Senior Pairs and Men on the first weekend, the Novice and
Juniors were also scheduled with them as a group.

In the Novice Ladies Free Skating Leah Keiser placed first and
moved up to win the gold medal. Ashley Cain who placed second in
the Short Program dropped to second in the long, to finish second
overall. Katarina Kulgeyko, who placed second in the short also
dropped one place in the long to finish third overall. Gracie
Gold move up from sixth in the short to place fourth in the long and
moved up to fourth overall. Estimated 1800 on hand for the
festivities.

Monday, 18 January 2010

The first half of the Senior events are over. Fans who came
for only the first weekend began leaving yesterday after the Men's
Free Skate. They will be placed by others in a few days arriving
for the Senior Ladies and Dance events. Rumors are flying that
Belbin & Agosto will not show up, or will withdraw before the
event is completed. The official word is they arrive today, and
that the rumors are just unrestrained speculation. Today is also
the first day for official Ladies practice, and the Sasha watch begins
-- though it is said Cohen is not scheduled to arrive in Spokane
before Tuesday evening.

2010
Olympic Winter Games Mens Nominations to the USOC

Jeremy
Abbott

Evan
Lysacek

Johnny
Weir

Alternate
No. 1  Ryan Bradley

Alternate
No. 2  Adam Rippon

Alternate
No. 3 
Brandon
Mroz

2010
U.S.
World Mens Team

Jeremy
Abbott

Evan
Lysacek

Johnny
Weir

Alternate
No. 1  Ryan Bradley

Alternate
No. 2  Adam Rippon

Alternate
No. 3 
Brandon
Mroz

2010
U.S.
Four Continents Mens Team

Ryan
Bradley

Brandon
Mroz

Adam
Rippon

Alternate
No. 1  Armin Mahbanoozadeh

Alternate
No. 2 
Douglas
Razzano

Alternate
No. 3  Alex Johnson

2010
U.S.
World Junior Mens Team

Grant
Hochstein

Armin
Mahbanoozadeh

Ross
Miner

Alternate
No. 1  Keegan Messing

Alternate
No. 2  Richard Dornbush

Alternate
No. 3  Jason Brown

In the afternoon sessions, Ashley Cain took the lead in the Novice
Ladies Shot Program and sits 0.42 points ahead of Katarina Kulgeyko,
and 0.44 points ahead of Leah Keiser. Following the Ladies Short
Program, Cain competed in the Novice Pairs Final where she placed
first with her partner Joshua Reagan. The team moved up from
second in the short to win the Novice Pairs title. Tori Vollmer
& Zack Sidhu placed third in the long to win the silver, and Mandy
Garza & Brandon Frazier placed second in the long moving up from
fourth in the short to win the bronze. Estimated attendance for the afternoon session: 2000.

In the evening session, Felicia Zhang & Taylor Toth won the
free to win the National title by a margin of 6.51 points. Zhang
will be competing later this week in Junior Ladies. Carolyn-Ann
Alba & Christopher Knierim dropped to fifth in the Free Skate,
allowing Erika Smith & Nathan Bartholomay to move up to third
overall, after being fourth in both the short and the long.
Brynn Carman & A.J. Reiss had a great skate in the long to move up
to third in the long after being seventh in the short, but could not
make up enough on their Short Program deficit to move into the
medals. They ended up fifth overall. Estimated attendance for the
evening session: 4000. About 2/3 of these stayed to the end,
with a third filtering out during the last warmup group. A long
day and an 11 PM finish on a weeknight makes it hard to hold an
audience.

Sunday, 17 January 2010

Jeremy Abbott gave a commanding performance to win his second National
title with a record 263.66 points. Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir
both skated less than their personal bests, but held their positions
to win silver and bronze. The three top men were named to the
Olympic team following the event. Ryan Bradley placed second in the
long and got credit for two quad toe loops, but with a sixth place
finish in the short he did not crack the top three, missing an Olympic
berth by 6.12 points

Following the Men's final, the Novice events began with the Men's
Short Program and Pairs Short Program. Nathan Chen opened up a
4.39 lead in the Men's event. In Pairs, Tori Vollmer & Zack
Sidu hold a 0.50 point lead. In the evening, the Junior Men's
Free Skate completed that event. Jason Brown edged out Joshua
Farris by 0.19 points to win the gold.

The selection of the Olympic Team for pairs generates some
discussion on the internet, and a harsh article in the Orange County
Register, but here at the competition it is a non-issue. The
general view in Spokane is that the correct teams will be going to
Vancouver. No one can confirm that U.S. Figure Skating offered
Inoue & Baldwin a place on the World Team. At best it
appears they were asked if they would accept a berth as World Team
alternates and they declined, as they are not listed as alternates for
that event.

Note:
The Olympic Team is "nominated" to the USOC, as it is the
USOC that officially selects U.S. Athletes for the Olympics and
forwards their names to the IOC.

Senior Pairs wrapped up with Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett
winning the Free Skate and capturing the Pairs Championship.
Rena Inoue & John Baldwin had a strong skate and place second in
the long to move up to third overall. Amanda Evora & Mark
Ladwig, held third in the long, and moved up to second overall.
Moving up two places from last year, they will part of the U.S. team
in Vancouver next month. Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker
placed fifth in the long, and ended up fifth overall. Estimated
attendance: 7500.

The Olympic selection was order of finish, as most everyone in U.S.
Figure skating expected it would be. Some of the media tried to
draw the skaters out into controversy about the selection process
asking them what they would do (before the decision was
announced). Mark Ladwig was a paragon of diplomacy and pointed
out the decision is made by a committee, and it would never be just
his decision.

Rena and John were more pointed in their comments. John said
he felt the Olympic team should be chosen by order of finish.
When pressed he said that when it came to making the decision, the
judges did so when they judged the event. Rena made a key observation
when she added that the Olympic selections should always be order of
finish. She said she understood for Worlds there sometimes might
be a reason to depart from order of finish since the results from
Worlds determine the number of entries a country is awarded the
following year. But for the Olympics she agreed the selection
should be order of finish.

When asked if they would accept an assignment to Four Continents,
Baldwin said no. They were not interested in a "consolation
prize." Rena added that she was happy with their
performance today, saying it was the kind of performance she wanted to
leave with. In effect the couple said if they were not named to
the Olympic team (and they weren't asking to be) this was their last
competitive performance. So, though the word retirement was not
said, once the Olympic selection was announce, it would seem that
Inoue & Baldwin are done with competitive skating.

To liven things up even more, Baldwin took a slap at the way rules
are followed or not by the association. He remarked that the
rules are applied or broken as it suites the convenience. When
asked if he had any advice for Denney & Barrett who are the
beginning of their senior careers, as he and Inoue are leaving, he
said they (and skaters in general) should not worry too much about
those situations where the marks they receive do not seem right (are
too low) for the way they skated. He urged them to focus on the process
and not just the results.

John also mentioned the couple was looking towards finally getting
married by this summer, though they did not say that a date had been
set.

If the top two teams do not do Four Continents (almost a certainty)
and Inoue & Baldwin do not go either, then teams four through six
are next in line to be named to the Four Continents team, which at
this time has yet to be announced.

Demolition (Junior) Pairs began with their Short Program this
evening. In the practice just prior to the event there was a
nasty collision, but all even teams took the ice for the competition
before an estimated audience of 6000.

Friday, 15 January 2010

The clichι that the only constant in life is change, must have
been invented for skating. Something is always changing.
Always.

This year, the great experiment is splitting the Senior
events, holding them on consecutive weekends. This concept came
from NBC to maximize ratings leading into the Olympics.
Television ratings for skating are higher on the weekend (and arena
attendance greater), so putting the Senior events live for two
weekends is actually a no-brainer. If this works, it can only be
good for skating, despite the inconvenience it may cause some.
Higher ratings make the broadcasts a more valuable property for U.S. Figure
Skating, resulting in greater public exposure. All of these are
good things. Further, by having the Pairs and Men this weekend
and the Dance and Ladies next weekend, skaters from all three disciplines
will have four weeks to finish preparing for the Olympics -- and
though not a motivation for NBC or U.S. Figure Skating, it does get
rid of the moronic (and patently unfair) approach of splitting a final
between a morning and evening session. Good riddance to that --
even if only for one year.

The down side is for those who only come
to Nationals for the Senior events either have to stay a substantially
longer time (at substantially greater cost) or pick one weekend and
forgo half the Senior events. In the two days we have been here
several longtime spectators have told us they are only here for this
weekend, and no doubt we will hear the same story from others next
weekend. But for those who always attend the whole thing (and
after all it is all about us) the impact has been arriving two days
earlier than previously and leaving one day earlier than previously
(since it is not possible to get out of town Sunday night, instead of
having to stay over to Monday morning). Not a big deal, and in
the process, there is more time between events to breathe. So,
as far as we are concerned, if there is a big positive impact on
ratings and public exposure, it would be fine with us if this schedule
was retained in the future.

The Junior Men Short program was held in
the morning, with an estimated attendance of 1400 and perhaps another
2500 grade school kids in the upper deck. Three men attempted
triple Axel in the Short Program, probably a record for U.S. Junior
Men. Max Aaron leads after the short but only 0.27 separate the
top three. In the afternoon the Senior Pairs Short Program was
held, with an estimated attendance of 4500. Denney and Barrett
hold a 0.92 lead.

Baring disaster, the Olympic team for the Men
seems to have been sorted out in the Short Program. More than
likely it will be the top three men at this point, Abbott, Lysacek and
Weir. All the other contenders are now sufficiently far back --
more than 10 points below third place -- that their Olympic dreams are
over for this year. Abbott holds a 4.16 lead. Lysacek and
Weir are neck in neck, 0.18 points apart. Adam Rippon was disappointed
in his skate, but sits in fourth. Making the Olympic team is
unlikely, but he has the chance to leave here viewed as the future for
the Men's if he hold position in the Free Skate, given the large
number of retirements expected after January 24. Estimated
attendance this evening 7000.